Farewell (1)
Finally, tomorrow is here.
Edwin leaned against the terrace railing, his body draped over it.
He stared at the distant, sinking sun, and an odd feeling washed over him.
The subjugation campaign.
Until recently, it had barely felt real. Yet after the hunting festival and the founding celebrations, here they were.
I can hardly believe it.
Edwin stretched out his arm and studied his open palm. His fingers had grown longer, his skin rougher. They looked like someone else’s hands entirely, even though every callus and inch of growth had come from his relentless training.
Sunset light slipped between his spread fingers, dazzling him.
“Your Highness Edwin.”
He turned at the voice.
“Catherine?”
“Forgive me for entering without permission. I knocked, but you didn’t answer.”
“It’s all right. What is it?”
The head maid Catherine replied with perfect courtesy.
“You have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
Guests at the Third Prince’s Palace were rare. Even rarer at this hour, when the imperial city’s gates were nearly closed for the night.
“Who would come at this time?”
“Oh, I can see them from here as well.”
Edwin followed the direction of her gaze.
Two small silhouettes stood out against the brilliant glow of the setting sun.
“Hmm? Isn’t that Sir Philip?”
As the figures drew closer, Edwin recognized them and his eyes widened in surprise. Philip noticed the prince on the terrace and offered a light, respectful bow.
“What brings Sir Philip all the way—”
The young prince broke off mid-sentence, eyes growing even larger.
The smaller figure beside Philip had just lowered the hood that had been hiding her face.
“...Brigitte?”
Hair as red as flame, refusing to be dimmed even by the blazing sunset. Eyes the vivid green of fresh leaves in full bloom. There, shining brighter than anyone, stood the young lady of the Crowner family.
“W-what brings you here, Brigitte?”
Edwin tried to steady his breathing. He had sprinted all the way from his room to the garden, and his chest still heaved.
“If you had told me you were coming, I would have prepared tea and snacks at least…!”
He did his best to appear dignified, but it was hopeless. No matter how hard he tried, the corners of the young prince’s mouth kept threatening to climb all the way to the sky.
“Tomorrow is the departure ceremony for the subjugation campaign,” Brigitte said, smiling adorably. “I came to the imperial city with Father. We thought we would cheer on the other knights as well.”
“I assumed you would be staying in the official residence, but they said you returned early today.”
“Ah, we leave at dawn tomorrow, so I ended training a little sooner today.”
“I see. That’s why I came to say goodbye in person.”
“I… I see.”
Edwin scratched the back of his head, cheeks flushed. Just the simple phrase in person made something inside his chest flutter.
“Have a safe journey,” Brigitte said simply. “Please don’t get sick, and try not to get hurt if you can help it.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Then I’ll be—”
She began to curtsy, but Edwin suddenly caught the edge of her sleeve.
“W-wait! Could you… could you stay just a little longer?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s just that…”
Edwin’s voice trailed off. Once he left for the subjugation campaign tomorrow, he might be gone for at least a month. Possibly several.
Feeling his face grow hot, he lowered his gaze.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back. So, Brigitte… I wanted to talk with you a little more.”
Brigitte stared quietly at the fingers still clutching her sleeve. Edwin noticed her gaze and snatched his hand back in alarm.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable! I was just in a hurry…”
“It’s all right.”
She shook her head, then turned to Philip.
“Sir Philip, I would like to speak with His Highness a little longer. Would that be acceptable?”
“…There appear to be roughly fifteen minutes remaining before the gates close.”
“Thank you.”
Brigitte turned back to Edwin with a gentle smile.
“Shall we talk for a while, Your Highness?”
“Y-yes! Then let’s go to the receiving room—”
“There isn’t much time. Why don’t we simply walk in the garden and talk?”
“Walk? Are you sure? Didn’t you wear proper shoes today? Won’t your feet hurt?”
He fired off several questions at once. Watching the flustered prince, Brigitte had to press a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Instead…”
The young lady held out her hand to him.
“May I ask you to escort me?”
Edwin looked at the small hand offered to him and broke into a radiant smile.
“Of course!”
The two children linked arms and began to walk. Behind them, Philip’s lips twitched as he watched the entire scene.
“Aren’t they just too adorable?”
“Ahem. What a disrespectful thing to say.”
Philip cleared his throat and frowned. At some point Catherine, head maid of the Third Prince’s Palace, had come to stand beside him, and the two now walked side by side.
“Oh come now, Sir Philip. You were thinking the exact same thing.”
“I was not.”
“I saw it with my own two eyes. You were trying to hold back a smile because those two were so cute.”
“You must have seen wrong.”
“Did I? I have excellent eyesight, Sir Philip.”
“Please don’t stand so close. I must guard the young lady.”
“You’re changing the subject. If we’re being precise, I also have a duty to attend His Highness Edwin.”
The chatter behind them grew lively. Edwin and Brigitte glanced back at the pair following them and whispered to each other.
“Are those two… involved?”
“I’m not sure. But Catherine did say she likes Sir Philip.”
“Really? Then we might hear some happy news soon.”
“Happy news?”
Brigitte took hold of Edwin’s arm and smiled brightly.
“Sir Philip seems rather fond of the head maid as well.”
She had heard Philip speak Catherine’s name several times. As far as Brigitte knew, the Vice Commander of the Gloria Knights was not the sort of man who casually uttered the name of a woman he had no interest in.
“When they start seeing each other, I’m going to tease them mercilessly.”
“Tease them? Why?”
“Aren’t you curious to see Sir Philip flustered?”
That did sound interesting. Edwin’s expression turned serious.
“Then let me join in.”
“Of course.”
They walked slowly, sharing small laughs. A ticklish, slightly awkward silence settled between them.
“Um, Brigitte.”
Edwin gathered his courage and spoke first. There was something he had wanted to ask her since earlier.
“You know…”
The young prince hesitated for a long moment before finally managing to speak.
“Did you go say goodbye to my older brothers as well?”
“Your older brothers?”
Brigitte raised one eyebrow.
“Do you mean His Highness the First Prince or His Highness the Second Prince?”
“Y-yeah.”
Edwin’s ears burned bright red, like ripe apples. Seeing his transparent heart so clearly, Brigitte gave a small smile.
“No.”
She lifted her chin slightly and answered in a clear voice.
“The only person I came to say goodbye to in person is you, Your Highness Edwin.”
“What? Really?”
Edwin looked as though he might float away. His large eyes sparkled as he stared at her.
“Truly?”
“Goodness, does it make you that happy that I came to see you?”
At her question, Edwin smiled more brightly than the sun itself.
“Yes. I’m happy.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m really glad you came to see me, Brigitte.”
For a moment, Brigitte simply stared at the prince’s face, stunned. Spring sunlight could not possibly be warmer or brighter than that smile.
She turned her head slowly, almost without thinking.
“…Your Highness Edwin.”
“Yes?”
“I am my father’s only child.”
She spoke a truth everyone already knew, yet her expression was shadowed.
“In the ducal house, the only one truly on Father’s side is me.”
Had it not been for his overwhelming martial prowess, Jerome could never have become Duke Crowner. During his mercenary days, people had constantly pointed fingers at his humble origins.
“That’s why I have to do well. If I make even the smallest mistake, Father will be criticized because of me.”
The noble daughter of the Crowner ducal family. The title everyone looked up to and envied carried no real power at all.
“When we first met, I told you I was a precious person destined to become empress. That you shouldn’t speak to me so casually.”
“D-did you? I don’t remember it being quite that harsh…”
“The truth is, I was just showing off.”
She could decide nothing on her own. All Brigitte could do was carry out the orders of the adults in her family.
“I have never once wanted to become empress for myself. It was simply that doing so would make things easier for Father and for our house. So I thought becoming empress was only natural.”
It had been her predetermined fate from the moment she was born a daughter of the Crowner family.
Brigitte bit her lower lip.
“Actually… I don’t want to go to the Eastern Continent either.”
Yet she had practiced the Eastern accent and studied their culture so her father wouldn’t worry.
“If I told him I didn’t want to be empress, Father would listen to my wishes without caring what anyone else thought.”
She didn’t want her father to be hated by the rest of the family. She didn’t want to give them the chance to say that a man of lowly blood could never change.
“But I really, really don’t want to marry His Highness the Second Prince either.”
Before, she had believed she would have no choice but to marry him in order to protect her cousin who had failed to become emperor. But not anymore.
“So, Your Highness Edwin.”
Brigitte stopped walking.
By now her large eyes were slightly wet with unshed tears.
“You must return safely.”
Edwin turned to face her. The small white hand holding his was trembling.
“If I am allowed to choose… if it is possible at all…”
“I want to stand beside no one but you, Your Highness Edwin.”